LONDON – Perennial chart-topper Ariana Grande has lost the race to top the British singles chart at Christmas – to a blogger who posts about fatherhood and sings about sausage rolls… and is raising money to help feed people suffering from poverty. LadBaby, whose real name is Mark Hoyle, recorded his version of Starship’s 1985 […]

SYDNEY – Former Australia cricket captain Steve Smith said on Friday he had not been involved in planning to tamper with the ball during the Cape Town test against South Africa, but took responsibility as a leader for failing to put a stop to it. Smith, along with vice-captain David Warner and opening batsman Cameron […]

MOSCOW – A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck off Russia’s sparsely populated far east on Thursday, but officials said the threat of a tsunami had passed and no damage was reported. The quake off Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, which was initially measured at magnitude 7.8 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), before […]

PRETORIA – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has not received any request from South Africa for a financial aid programme, its managing director Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday, as the country struggles with weak economic growth and rising debt. “I am not here to discuss any kind of financial support or to negotiate any kind […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa‘s Competition Commission on Thursday recommended Shoprite’s retail unit, which houses the country’s biggest supermarket chain, be fined 10 percent of its turnover for anti-competitive behaviour. Shoprite shares fell more than 4 percent after the commission referred it to the country’s Competition Tribunal, which will ultimately decide if the commission’s charges and […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Public Protector on Wednesday ordered President Cyril Ramaphosa to discipline Treasury Director-General Dondo Mogajane for not disclosing a criminal conviction when he applied for his job. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane told reporters she had directed Ramaphosa to take disciplinary action against Mogajane within 30 days after investigations confirmed Mogajane failed to […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand traded slightly stronger early Tuesday, helped by a fragile dollar as markets counted down to a crucial U.S. Federal Reserve meeting amid speculation it will soon hit the pause button to its monetary tightening cycle. At 0645 GMT, the rand traded at 14.3500 versus the dollar, 0.3 percent stronger than […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways (SAA) said on Tuesday that it had signed a partnership deal with Emirates airline which would see the two firms expand an existing codeshare agreement and work on other areas of cooperation. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been at pains to stabilise struggling state-run firms like SAA, which has […]

The U.S. military said on Monday it had killed 62 militants in six air strikes on Saturday and Sunday in the vicinity of Gandarsh in Somalia’s south-central Banaadir province. The military’s Africa Command (Africom) said four strikes were carried out on Saturday, killing 34 militants, and two more on Sunday, which killed 28. “Africa Command […]

JOHANNESBURG – The Springboks will arrive in Japan for the World Cup a week earlier than previously planned next year to play the tournament hosts in a warm-up match in Saitama, South Africa Rugby said on Monday. South Africa will face Japan at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium on Sept. 6, a little over two weeks before […]

JOHANNESBURG – A debt swap for cash-strapped state power company Eskom would spiral the country into more debt, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday, adding there was need to look at other options to shore up the company’s balance sheet. Eskom, which has had to implement power cuts due to coal shortages and […]

PRETORIA – Andre Kruger’s stand at Africa’s first ever cannabis exposition displayed an indoor growing tent, complete with state-of-the-art lighting imported from the United States and fittings for a high-tech hydroponic irrigation system. What it didn’t have, however, was a cannabis plant. The four-day expo, which opened in South Africa’s capital Pretoria on Thursday, was […]

JOHANNESBURG – The South African Reserve Bank will not raise interest rates again until May, according to a Reuters poll, taken after the Reserve Bank surprised many economists last month by adding 25 basis points to borrowing costs. The median forecast in the poll of 25 economists, conducted over the past week, suggests the central […]

The rand is the fourth worst performing currency against the dollar in 2018 and among the most volatile, but it remains a favourite for investors chasing high yields and willing to risk short-term losses for sizeable net returns. Implied volatility on South Africa’s rand rose by its most this week since the last finance minister […]

JOHANNESBURG – The South African government needs to “bite the bullet” and bail out struggling state-run power firm Eskom, which has asked for R100 billion ($7 billion) in government support, the chief executive of Rothschild & Co in South Africa told Reuters. Rothschild advised Eskom in 2008 when it last received a major cash injection […]

JOHANNESBURG – The chairman of KPMG South Africa on Monday appealed for the firm to be seen as a changed business, following months of efforts to regain public trust after becoming embroiled in major corruption scandals. In an open letter published in South African newspapers, KPMG South Africa’s executive chairman Wiseman Nkuhlu said the local […]

JOHANNESBURG – Home favourite Louis Oosthuizen romped to a first-ever South African Open title after extending his overnight lead and finishing six shots clear after carding a final round 67 at the Randpark Golf Club in Gauteng on Sunday. Oosthuizen, with a tournament total of 266, comfortably saw off the challenging pack as he ended […]

JOHANNESBURG  – South Africa’s new national minimum wage will take effect from January 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday, ensuring workers earn at least R20 an hour. Ramaphosa last month signed into law the national minimum wage bill, part of efforts by the government to tackle wage inequality in South Africa. The National Minimum […]

JOHANNESBURG – Ratings firm Fitch on Thursday kept South Africa sub-investment grade credit rating steady at subinvestment and maintained its stable outlook, but warned that low growth and rising debt of state-owned firms posed a risk. “South Africa’s ratings are weighed down by low growth potential, sizeable government debt and contingent liabilities,” Fitch said in […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa have named uncapped middle-order batsman Zubayr Hamza and fast bowler Duanne Olivier in their squad for the three-test home series against Pakistan starting in Pretoria on Boxing Day. Cape Town-born Hamza, 23, averages almost 50 in first class cricket but has had a modest domestic season to date with two […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), said on Tuesday it could go to court to stop proposed land reforms after parliament today approved a report endorsing a constitutional amendment that would allow expropriations without compensation. A parliamentary team last month recommended a constitutional amendment to make it possible for […]

PRETORIA – President Cyril Ramaphosa named Shamila Batohi South Africa’s new chief prosecutor on Tuesday, after the Constitutional Court ruled in August that the appointment of the previous prosecutor – Shaun Abrahams – was invalid. Ramaphosa, who replaced former president Jacob Zuma in February, has made the fight against corruption a key plank of his […]

South African expat Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California on Monday carrying 64 small satellites into low orbit around the Earth, which the company called the largest-ever “rideshare” mission by a U.S.-based rocket. The mission, dubbed SSO-A, also marked the third voyage to space for the same Falcon 9 rocket – […]

PRETORIA – Farms and factories have dragged South Africa out of its first recession in almost a decade, data showed on Tuesday, as the economy grew by more than expected in the third quarter! The positive data is a boost for President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has pledged to re-start growth after a decade of stagnation […]

SYDNEY – Thousands of children walked out of school across Australia on Friday in protest against government inaction on climate change, prompting a rebuke from a minister who said they were setting themselves up for “failure”. Children, parents and teachers gathered in Sydney’s central business district in the lunch hour, chanting “ScoMo’s got to go”, […]